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Strabo
Strabo is a dragon, the last of his kind left alive in Landover (and according to himself, the last left anywhere in the universe). Appearance: Approximately forty feet in length, with large bat-like wings, a barrel-shaped body and a long tail. Strabo is uniformly black, and covered with scales and spines. Location: Strabo makes his home in the Fire Springs, a semi-volcanic region far in the eastern wastelands of Landover. The area desolate, with no plant or animal life save Strabo himself. There are various pits and pools of lavo or hot springs, and a smokey atmosphere that makes it difficult to breath. Background: Strabo is the last remaining dragon in Landover, and the terror of the valley. In the past, the kings of Landover kept him in check through control of the Paladin, the only entity in the kingdom able to challenge him. He admits as much to Ben Holiday, stating in Magic Kingdom For Sale (Sold!) that the Paladin is as stong as he is. When the last king died and the throne was abandoned by Meeks and the king's son Michel, the Paldin dissapeared and Strabo was free to roam the valley. He took out his anger at being kept in the fire springs by raidng the valley as he wished, killing humans and their stock at will. He is again banished to the fire springs, and held there under the strength of both a promise made to Ben Holiday (under the influence of Io Dust, a magic substance that gives total control over the imbiber by the user) and the threat of the Paladin, now returned since Holiday's taking on the kingship. His promise to Holiday was that he would no longer prey on the other inhabitants in the valley and stay out of sight as long as Holiday lives...a short time to Strabo, given his enormous self stated age of over 1,000 years. Abilities: ' Strabo is considered by many of the inhabitants of Landover to be the single most powerful denizen of the valley. Even the witch Nightshade admitted (under the influence of Io Dust) that Strabo was more powerful than she, and that his magic had greater range and strength than her own. He is largely invunerable to physical harm due to his scales, and is magically "tough" as well. He can, of course, breathe fire, and attack with his claws, teeth and tail. He has the ability to use his fire to "burn" a hole between worlds, letting him travel to any world connected to Landover. At first he claims he can only travel to worlds where the inhabitants believe in dragons, but in ''Wizard at Large, he is able to travel to Ben Holiday's earth, so this may not be precisely true. Strabo speaks the local language and appears to understand many others, much to Holiday's surprise. '''Personality: Strabo is a complex character. While he originally begins as an antagonist for Holiday, he develops over the series into more of a grey area, with a love-hate relationship with Holiday and his supporters. He has saved Holiday on multiple occassions when he did not have to, for example, and shows affection for the sylph Willow and a grudging respect for court Magician Questor Thews. Over the series it is revealed that Strabo is actually capable of great sensitivity and is possessed of high intelligence and a shrewd degree of perception. While never "freinds" with Holiday, he seems to respect him and to actually enjoy their verbal sparring. As he says in their first encounter, he sometimes likes to talk because it's "something to do". Due to his long life-span and near constant persecution by the other inhabitants of the valley, Strabo has developed a strongly cynical, misanthropic personality that conflicts with his nature. He says he likes to be alone, but seems to enjoy and prolong company to some degree. He claims that he is what others have made him, but is never as openly evil as he would have others think. He is somewhat of a pessimest, and has a dark, sardonic sense of humor. Enemies: ''' While not freindly with any of the valley's inhabitants, Strabo's one constant nemesis is the witch Nightshade. They have a long history of hating one another, and each is jealous of the other's power. Strabo is acknowledged by nearly everyone to be the more powerful of the two, but not enough so that he can stamp Nightshade out at will. They have fought at least one battle to a draw and neither seems in a hurry to try again. '''Favorite Quotes: "This cow, Questor Thews, is a stray who wandered in and stayed for dinner...rather like yourself". "A fool, witch? Do you really think so? As big a fool as you, to walk unprotected into the lair of your greatest enemy?" "Don't I know you? I saw you in the Fairy Mists, didn't I? You stared at me so hard you woke me up. Rude of you. That was you, wasn't it?" "I hate you, Holiday! One day I'll be free of you and I'll cause you such pain that you won't believe!" "What an ugly world you come from, Holiday!" Category:Characters